2G case: CBI files third charge sheet; names Essar Group, Loop Telecom

Agencies

New Delhi, 13 December 2011: Essar Group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia were among five persons charge sheeted on Monday by the CBI in a Delhi Court in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

 

Besides the Ruias, the CBI also charged Essar Group director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband I.P. Khaitan.

 

The agency also named three companies — Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding as accused in the case. All of them have been chargesheeted under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

 

Alll norms complied with: Essar

 

Essar Group on Monday denied any involvement in the 2G spectrum allocation scam and said it has complied with in totality with all conditions of telecom licences.

 

"We would like to reiterate that Essar has complied with all conditions of clause 8 under UASL guidelines (dealing with cross-holding) in totality and all the facts which have been given at the time of submitting the application for telecom licence i.e, shareholding/ownership have been independently verified by the government agencies," Essar Group said.

 

Essar Group is a responsible corporate citizen and has always complied with all government guidelines and the law of the land, the group said in a statement.

 

"The only charge filed by CBI is regarding the interpretation of a contractual issue. This relates to the question of violation of clause 8 under the UASL guidelines," Essar said.

 

The group said despite the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice having confirmed that there was no clause 8 violation, the CBI has proceeded with the chargesheet.

 

"CBI and the Attorney General have gone contrary to the opinion given by the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The CBI has also gone against their internal legal advice," it said.

 

Essar will take legal recourse in this regard, the statement said.

 

105-page charge sheet

 

The 105-page charge sheet containing 398 documents was brought in five trunks before Special Judge O.P. Saini who will take cognizance of the charge sheet on December 17.

 

The charge sheet named 100 prosecution witnesses. This is the third charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case.

 

The CBI alleged that Essar, which already had a stake as an existing telecom operator, created a front company Loop Telecom to secure additional spectrum which was in contravention of the Telecom policy.

 

Essar Group, however, have been saying that they have not been holding nearly or over 10 per cent stake in the Loop Telecom and its stake was only 2.15 per cent and there was no violation of clause 8 of the Unified Access Services Licences (UASL) guidelines.

 

The CBI had earlier told the Supreme Court that the charge sheet against Essar and Loop would be filed by end of September this year. However, this could not happen as there was a difference of opinion within the agency.

 

While the Director of Prosecution in CBI was not in favour of charge sheeting Essar and Loop, CBI Director A.P. Singh and investigating officers in the case were of the strong opinion to prosecute the companies and its promotors.

 

The case against the Ruias’ and Khaitans’ was also mired in controversy as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs was reportedly of the opinion that the Essar Group had less than 10 per cent stake in Loop Telecom.

 

CBI Director had referred the matter to Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati, who then expressed opinion in favour of filing the charge sheet in the case.

 

However, Mr. Vahanvati’s opinion was overruled by the then Corporate Affairs Minister and present Law Minister Salman Khurshid.